Published 13 September 2021 at 12.52
Domestic. The archeology students' summer excavations on Gotland have caused an unexpected uproar. A warrior with spurs and swords was found in an Iron Age tomb in Buttle Änge.
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– The objects themselves are exciting. Everything is so well preserved and can serve as a piece of the puzzle in the understanding of Buttle meadow specifically and for Gotland in general, says Alexander Andreeff Högfeldt, assistant professor at the Department of Archeology and Ancient History, who as a teacher and digging leader was involved in the discovery.
There are figurines at the place where the warrior was found. One is almost four meters high, which makes it the tallest figurine left in its natural environment on Gotland. In the area there are also house foundations and a burial ground with several stone settings, two of which: one larger and one smaller, now excavated.
Excavations of the burial ground began already two years ago when the smaller paving was examined. Now it was time to find out what was hidden in the larger of the stone settings. The construction consists of an outer and an inner ring and is approximately nine meters in diameter. In the past, the skeleton of at least two infants has been found in the outer edge of the inner ring.
– We have dated one of the bones that turned out to be from the Vendel period, around 700 AD. This stone setting can be considered as a separate burial ground in miniature. Between the outer and inner stone ring, we have also found remains of at least one fire pit, says Alexander Andreeff Högfeldt in a mailing.
1.5 meters into the ground, in a grave covered with limestone slabs, the warrior was found. He was in the fetal position. Above his head had been placed a ceramic vessel of black goods and a container of organic material. He had also brought with him two knives and a belt buckle.
The combat equipment, the 80 cm long spatha-type sword and the silver-decorated spurs on the heels signaled that the person was a rider. The sword type was used both in the Germanic territories, the Roman Empire and in the subsequent Frankish Empire. Based on the grave goods, archaeologists estimate that he lived during the Roman Iron Age, ie 0-400 AD
But who was he? Why was buried here right here? These are questions that further research will now try to find answers to. Archaeologists know that people lived in Buttle Meadow for almost 2,000 years. The existing house foundations are dated to the 300s-500s and previous excavations have shown that the buildings have had different functions.
– One is a residential building where we found a large fireplace, one of the houses seems to have been used as ceremony building. In it we have found fine ceramics and a Roman silver coin and the third house is a storehouse where we found large amounts of ceramics from pots used for storage. We have also found weaving weights and a dragonfly, which indicates that textile crafts have been going on here, says Alexander Andreeff Högfeldt.
The houses were probably built a couple of centuries after the warrior's death, so he did not live in them, but since he is buried here, he must have a connection to the place.
– He may have belonged to a family of free men and women who owned farms and land in the area. This man was probably a warrior, we see that when we look at the sword and the spurs because it is a real equestrian equipment. We know that Scandinavians and Germans served in the Roman army as auxiliary troops, but we can not say if this person did, says Alexander Andreeff Högfeldt.
The objects and the skeleton have now been taken to Campus Gotland for further investigations. and dating. In the osteological laboratory, each part of the skeleton will be studied. Analyzes will be made of the warrior's DNA as well as of the composition of certain isotopes in his skeleton. Isotopes can give an indication of where he grew up, when he died and also give an insight into his diet. For example, it is possible to see if his diet consisted mainly of food from land or sea.